to moral philosophy. Another later scholar critical of Ogyū's teachings was Nakai Chikuzan, who was also familiar with Goi's opposition to Ogyū Sorai. Goi wrote his opposition to Sorai in his essay Hi-Butsu hen, which was written in the 1730s, but not published until 1766 having been edited by Chikuzan and his brother. Nakai later wrote his own, highly emotional, rebuttal to Ogyū's beliefs in his work Hi-Chō (1785), wherein he rejected the idea that individuals could not better themselves through moral choices. Moreover, he claimed individuals were able judge whether external ideas and actions as true or just. Denial of these morals, he felt, would leave only "rites and rules" to be followed. Master Sorai's Teachings Master Sorai's Teachings is a record of his teaching and exchanges with his students. The text was edited by his own students and contained their questions followed by his answers to them. The work was not released until 1724, but is thought to have actually taken place around 1720. In it he reinforces that literature is not so much intended for the purposes of instruction in morality or governance, but rather it simply allows for the flow of human emotions. From this, answers on the former topics may be found, he argued. While Ogyu sought to redefine the sources of Tokugawa legitimacy, his purpose was clearly to strengthen the authority of the Tokugawa shogunate. Economic contributions Though Sorai was best known for being a teacher of Confucianism he was also called on to find answers to some of the economic issues that arose alongside the growing economy, the most notable of which was the rising inflation and prices that began after the debasement of coinage in 1695. The Tokugawa shogunate carried out a total of 12 recoinages between 1695 and the start of the Meiji Restoration in 1868 debasing the currency in an attempt to match the rising demand for money as the commercial economy rapidly expanded. There was an attempt to quell the inflation and high prices in 1714 when the government reminted coins in an effort to reduce the amount of gold in circulation, however this exacerbated the problem as the old coins remained in circulation alongside the newly minted coins. In response to the currency reforms Sorai noted that the monetary policies enacted failed as they only accounted for one of the causes of high prices and inflation. Sorai realized